Can Canada's intelligence capability help in war on ISIL?

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has been touting the potential for Canada’s military to help gather intelligence in Iraq in the battle against Islamic extremists.

But with no recent history of meaningful involvement in Iraq or Syria, a scarcity of Arabic speakers, and a lack of intelligence-gathering equipment such as drones, how much of a contribution can Canada’s military make?

In late December, Sajjan told journalists that the Liberal government is considering contributing an intelligence capability to the war against the Islamic State, including helping improve the abilities of Iraqi security forces to target extremists. He suggested the Canadian Forces have technology to play this role but didn’t specify whether that would be equipment on the ground or in the air.

In other interviews, the minister has stated that Canada’s intelligence capabilities are second to none and the government was looking at how to increase that in the Iraq war.

Sajjan, a former officer who dealt with military intelligence during the Afghan war, has emphasized understanding the political and tribal dynamics of ongoing wars.

But the Canadian Forces do not have extensive background in Iraq, having concentrated most of their efforts for more than a decade on Afghanistan.

The Canadian military only has a handful of linguists who speak Arabic. Its intelligence organization acknowledges it has no idea of how many serving in its ranks speak languages used in Iraq or Syria.

“While the Canadian Armed Forces does maintain rosters of members with ability in languages other than English and French, we do not specifically track the number of Arabic speakers within the Intelligence Branch,” said Department of National Defence spokesman Evan Koronewski in an email.

But he added, “all intelligence officers and operators are highly trained and provide commanders with valuable support to decision-making, planning and operations.”

The federal government’s electronic spy agency, the Communications Security Establishment, could play more of a role, but it is already monitoring phone calls and emails of Islamic extremists.

The Canadian military doesn’t have any long-range drones, such as those used by the U.S. and Britain to gather intelligence or target and kill ISIL leaders.

Shortly before entering the war in the fall of 2014, the RCAF put out feelers to Canada’s aerospace industry on whether it could provide drones or intelligence-gathering aircraft on short notice.

Companies told the military that could be done but the RCAF never progressed further on that issue.

It wasn’t the first time, however, the RCAF has conducted a last-minute search for intelligence equipment to support a war effort. During the Libyan conflict in 2011, senior Canadian military leaders pitched the idea of spending up to $600 million for armed drones to take part in the war but the Conservatives decided against that.

Although Public Services and Procurement Canada asked aerospace companies on Friday for information about drones they could provide, the RCAF has pointed out that is a capability for the longer term, and such aircraft, if purchased, wouldn’t be available until after 2019.

One intelligence-related capability the Liberal government could provide is the RCAF’s CP-140 surveillance aircraft.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his government will follow through with its plan to withdraw the six CF-18 fighter jets. Canada has been asked by the U.S. to leave the two CP-140s that are now flying surveillance missions over Iraq.

The RCAF has at least four more of those aircraft, which have been modified with advanced surveillance equipment. The Liberals could boost that contribution, sources say.

Meanwhile, Sajjan wouldn’t say why Canada won’t be at a meeting in Paris this week in which counterparts from seven countries will discuss the fight against the Islamic State. The Washington Post cited an unnamed U.S. official saying the meeting would involve countries with “the most skin in the game.”

But Sajjan minimized the importance of the meeting, saying he is regularly updated on the situation.

“Meetings happen all the time. There’s a number of other meetings that happen that you may not actually be aware of,” he said. “I have a couple of meetings that are going to be coming up in the next few weeks to talk about ISIL.”

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